[January 13, 2014]PARIS (Reuters) — U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed the
possibility of ceasefires in parts of Syria, Kerry said on Monday after
talks in Paris.

Lavrov said the two also discussed a possible willingness by
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open aid corridors.

"We talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a
ceasefire. Maybe a localized ceasefire in Aleppo," Kerry told a news
conference after talks with Lavrov and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in
Paris.

Lavrov, whose government backs Assad, said Damascus had indicated it
might provide access for humanitarian aid to besieged areas. He
specifically cited the Damascus suburb of East Ghouta, where 160,000
people have been largely trapped by fighting, according to the
United Nations.

"We await similar steps by the opposition," Lavrov said.

The United States is pushing for a series of confidence-building
measures in the Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 100,000
people, in advance of a planned peace conference in Switzerland on
January 22.